NEW DELHI: Indian fishermen who were stranded in Iran amid escalating conflict in the Middle East have expressed deep gratitude to the Indian Embassy and the government for ensuring their safe return home, crediting coordinated diplomatic efforts for bringing them back safely from a tense regional situation.The fishermen returned to India on Saturday night and were received at Chennai International Airport by Union minister for commerce Piyush Goyal.Rajesh Patel, a fisherman from Gujarat’s Valsad district who had been working in Iran’s Kiru region for the past four years, said deteriorating conditions forced them to leave and credited the Indian mission for helping them return safely.“I came back from the Kiru region of Iran. I work as a fisherman. I had been there for four years,” Patel told news agency ANI.“Things got quite chaotic over there recently. That’s why we had to leave. The Indian Embassy provided us with a great deal of assistance in getting out. It would have been extremely difficult for us to leave on our own, but the entire Indian Embassy machinery set up support centres everywhere, in every state, so we were able to get out and return safely. The Indian government helped us in Iran from Armenia to get us back home in India,” he added.Another fisherman from Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district described the conditions on the ground as dangerous before their evacuation.“Per day, nearly 10 to 20 bombs fell before us. With great difficulty, holding our lives in our hands, we came here safely. We thank our government very much,” he said.Speaking at the airport, Goyal said the evacuation was undertaken under directions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with coordinated efforts by the ministry of external affairs and Indian missions abroad, moving the stranded nationals from Iran to Armenia before bringing them home.“Our Prime Minister gave instructions to the Foreign Ministry, and they worked very hard to move them from Iran to Armenia. From Armenia, we got some good people to support us in getting them back because they are very poor fishermen. In the first batch, 345 came. Today, 300+ came. The Prime Minister has always cared for all the people who are stuck in any crisis. This once again demonstrates how much he cares for our fishermen who were unfortunately stuck in the middle of the war in Iran. They have been brought out from right inside Iran,” he said.The MEA has said over 600 fishermen have been brought back so far, while a total of 2,180 Indian nationals, including students and fishermen, were moved from Iran to Armenia and Azerbaijan for onward travel to India.
